When do you stop watching your kids run and NOT get the feeling they’re going to fall? I’m tellin’ ya… my kids run and it’s so hard for me to watch. It’s not that they run poorly, have bad form or are just clumsy runners, (well Bella might be), it’s that they go all out and sprint and you figure its bound to happen – they’re going to wipe out.

I digress… The 1st Annual Saucony Three Point One was held at Bonelli Park. Bonelli Park is only a hop away from where I live. There are paved roads for running, trails for running, places to ride your road bike, places to mountain bike, picnic areas and a LAKE!!! Yes, a lake. And before my Triathlon in June (where I suffered through my first outside the pool swim) I never knew about Bonelli Park Lake. And its only a twenty minute ride from home to a beautiful place to bring your family. I’m planning a picnic in a couple of months.

Again… I digress… The turnout for the race was very respectable for a small, 1st Annual race. It was well organized, the announcer really set the tone of excitement, and they were able to draw a few elite athletes. I don’t know their names but one was a female who was on the cover of Runners World, there was another Male who just won some huge event and was like world ranked or something, and the number sixth ranked high school girl in the nation.

My race started at 8:15. I did a little jog with Jacob just to get warmed up. I was feeling tight. I ran a personal best 5K four days prior during training (26:19) and did a recovery run two days prior. I felt prepared but I wanted to warm up, get myself really ready, get my heart rate up and just go for it. I was hoping to run under 27 minutes and was not thinking about a Personal Best because it was such a struggle to do the 26:19 on a flat course. I was unsure about the course for this race, but under 27 minutes and I would be happy.

I made my way to the middle of the pack at the start line and as they blew the horn I took off. I maintained a decent pace but was getting passed by everyone who lined up behind me. Was I running that slow? I looked down at my Garmin, I was running a faster pace than I wanted and decided the right thing to do was slow down and don’t worry about other people. I figured EVERYONE was running faster than they wanted. I was. I checked my Garmin at a ¼ mile and was running a 7:00 minute pace. That’s bad. There was no way I’d make it to the end at that pace so I slowed down.

A mile in and I was faster than normal: 8:11 but I was feeling okay.

I decided that it was a good pace. I was really pushing it but that’s what you do in a race. You push it. I checked my HR: 194. Wow. I was really pushing it! What was I going to expect after mile two? Well, I decided to see.

Before I hit mile two I heard the announcer, from across the lake, call the winner. It was around 14 minutes into the race and someone had already crossed the finish line and I was a little more than halfway through. WOW!

Mile 2 split: 16:21: a 8:10 per mile pace.

Right on the money! Almost the exact pace from mile 1!!! My HR: 194 beats per minute. I’ve never sustained a heart rate for this long at Zone 5. But this is where you’re supposed to be when you’re racing so I was aware of what I was doing. It felt great.

Then the dreaded last mile and sure enough, I felt it. My legs were heavy. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I was struggling and the fast two mile split times proved a bad decision… maybe.

I made a turn and felt the tiny incline take its toll. And that’s when I decided to pick it up. Go for it. Torture myself for a mile and enjoy the rest of the day.

Yes, I started that last mile slow. But I finished it off well. I saw the finish line and a runner several feet away. I passed her. I was pumping my arms and had my sights on another runner 20 feet away.

I could have passed him. I had enough left in me. If I ran by him it’d be a real close finish and I decided to let it be and not blow by. The photographer was at the finish taking finish line shots and I didn’t want to get in the way of his picture. Yeah, stupid, but its just a recreational race and I wanted him to enjoy it as much as me. So I backed off from an all out sprint. But I was still going hard, mind you. I could have put the hammer down and pound it out hard and gave it everything I had. But I didn’t. I gave it 99% of what I had instead of 110% and finished 20 feet behind the guy in front and I was happy about it.

I figured to have run under 27 minutes. I figured it was a very, very decent run and I was extremely happy with my performance.

I ran the last 1.14 miles in 9:30: a 8:20 min mile pace. Yes, slower than the first two miles which was expected because of their faster pace – and I usually have negative splits. If I planned it better, I may have had negative splits and a faster race.

Final time: 25:51.

Did I say I wanted to run under 27 minutes? Well, I did. And I beat my Personal Best by 28 seconds. WOW! I did it. I ran a great race.

SPLITS
Mile 1: 8:11
Mile 2: 8:10
Mile 3: 8:28
Mile 3.1: 01:02

HEART RATE
Mile 1: Ave 181, Max 192
Mile 2: Ave 191, Max 194
Mile 3: Ave 195, Max 196
Mile 3.1: Ave 197, Max 198

Based on my HR data I really gave it my best shot. I was in Zone 5 for a total of 21ish minutes out of my 26ish minute run.

Awesome. It proves all that conditioning, the 9 mile LSDs, and ‘race day’ adrenaline is totally different than a training day all out effort for me. Consider four days prior when I ran a 26:19 5K Personal Best and my HR rate was in Zone 5 for under 10 minutes and I struggled more on that run than I did on this.

Training pays off in a 28 second dividend!!!

But that’s not the highlight of the day…

The 1st Annual Saucony Three Point One also had a Kiddie Run. Ages 5 and under ran ¼ miles and ages 8 and under ran ½ mile. The older kids ran 1 mile.

Bella was very, very excited to run this race. For weeks she kept asking, “Can I run the race now?”. I kept having to tell her, ‘not yet.’

Jake… excited about it, but really wasn’t demanding to run it “RIGHT NOW!” And on this morning, right when he woke up, he said he didn’t want to run a race. I gave him a two minute speech about saying something you’re going to do and doing it instead of saying something you’re going to do and NOT doing it. I reminded him about the word ‘courage’ and I ended my two minute speech with… “And you know Jacob, I guarantee that after you do the race you’re going to want to do it again and again. Just like, Papa.”

I left him in bed and if he didn’t want to run it after that little speech, then so be it.

One minute later, literally, as I poured milk into my cereal bowl, he came out in shorts and a shirt, slides with his socks on the hardwood floor into the dining room and announces, “I’m ready!”

“So are you going to run?”

“YUP!”

Yeah… that’s my boy. Courage, baby! Courage.

So here we are, Bonelli Park – their papa just ran a race and nervousness sets in for Jakey-boy.


Pre race jitters… at least for one.

Bella… no problem. She was ready and willing to go. Her race was first. I asked the Race Director if I could run with the kids and they said yes. Awesome. A cool down run for me!

It was an out and back. Bella got in a race stance and as the horn blasted in our ears she was out the shoot like a bat out of hell.

Her arms pumping, her little legs turning, her face was a face of determination, a face of a champion giving it their all out effort, a face of someone who was going to leave EVERYONE in the dust and cross that line the winner.

Well, she didn’t pass anyone. Everyone ran by her. She was the smallest, the tiniest little racer in the whole 5 and under field. And did it matter? Nope. She was still going to give it everything her little heart could possibly give.

Would she last 400 meters? Uh… probably not. I was behind her and called out, “Slow down… don’t fall!” It was hard to watch.

At 100 meters there’s a tiny tiny little hill. TINY. And that was her ‘wall’. Her feet slowed, her arms pumped higher and harder, she was struggling… she still had 300 meters to go. She was only a quarter done and she reached up to me and asked, “Can you carry me?”

“Uh… no, Bella, this is a race. Papa can’t carry you but I can hold your hand.”

So we held hands and jogged. We got to the turnaround point and her jog was as fast as her walk. 100 meters left and she was gasping for air and dragging her legs but then… when we saw the finish line and I told her that Mommy was waiting I let go of her hand and she started up on a good running pace. Not a sprint like she started, but a run, er… run/jog… well, a jog/walk. And she saw Mommy, Jakey, and Emo Vivian (Emo=’Auntie’ in Korean). She waved at them with 25 meters to go and the announcer says through the loudspeaker, “And she’s waving to the crowd!”

I ran ahead, crossed the finish line and squatted down with arms wide open. She ran into my arms and I kissed her and told her how proud of her I was. She got a medal for crossing that line. What a race.

And now… Jacob’s turn. He was nervous. But he was ready. And as the horn blasted once again, Papa, who just ran a total of 3 + miles already, jogged behind Jacob and his little legs. And yes, it was hard to watch. I’m so fricken paranoid. I called to him, “Slow Down, Don’t Fall.” SLOW DOWN DON’T FALL?!?!? That’s not how to race is it? Well, until they can handle running on their own without me following, I’m going to yell, SLOW DOWN DON’T FALL!

We watched another little girl bite it. And I mean bite it. When adults fall they tend to be able to catch themselves. They can fall hard, but they are strong enough to turn their bodies, recover during the fall and prepare for the hit in fractions of a second. This girl just BANG fell. And it was awkward, on her side, arms flailing, legs in the air kinda fall. It looked extremely painful. But full of proof - see… SLOW DOWN DON’T FALL!

We passed kids that took off way too fast and petered out. A quarter of a mile in at the turnaround and I was like, “damn I’m tired”.

Jake kept his pace, didn’t slow, we weaved around kids and parents, we went around slow-pokes, and we got in view of the finish line where Mommy, Emo Vivian and Bella cheered. Jake poured it on. I guess I could have sprinted ahead and let him run into my arms but I was tired. And he was doing fine on his own. He crossed the line, with papa behind him, and I grabbed him and kissed him and told him how proud I was of him. He got a medal for finishing.

And they wore their medals proudly. They deserved it.


Proud owners of Saucony Three Point One & Kiddie Race Medals!

I don’t know why I didn’t time their race. I totally forgot. But they did it and that’s all that mattered.

Now THAT was the highlight of the day. No times, no personal best goals, just two of my kids finishing their first race – with many more to follow.

I hope.


With Emo Chi-Chi (Vivian)


The running family…
Jake, Mommy, Bella and Papa


Edited by TriathleteNut 2006-10-13 3:38 PM